High School Notebook: Hudson High seniors find unparalleled success during winter sports season

By Tommy Cassell/@tommycassell44

Wednesday

Mar 13, 2019 at 4:55 PMMar 13, 2019 at 4:55 PM

Hudson High sports had fallen on tough times over the past few years.

Hudson High athletics – specifically its seniors – deserved a winter like this.

After seeing the lowest of lows for both the boys and girls basketball programs over their careers, four Hudson senior captains - Tim Person and Cam White, and Allura Carney and Caroline Pollard - finally saw their programs mirror one another.

In a good way.

As eighth-graders, Person and White were on junior varsity. The varsity basketball team won just one game. As freshmen, Carney and Pollard didn’t win a single game on varsity.

“It was really bad,” Carney said on Cassell’s Corner podcast on Feb. 21.

Fast-forward to this season, and the two programs made it to foreign territory: the postseason.

“It’s just crazy to watch it build from nothing to now making playoffs our senior year,” said Carney, whose team clinched a postseason berth for the first time since 2004.

The Hawks secured a spot in the tournament by beating North Middlesex, 39-38, in overtime on Jan. 22. Hudson had lost to North Middlesex earlier in the season.

“It kind of felt like a game we could get revenge and make playoffs,” Pollard said.

Last season, the boys basketball team made the playoffs for the first time in a while – like the girls did this season.

“We were kind of still a middle-of-the-road playoff team, and then this year it’s kind of great to have all that senior leadership,” Person said. “We’re definitely one of the more experienced teams … so the camaraderie and chemistry we’ve built has made this year more memorable and more enjoyable.”

Hudson’s girls team lost in the Division 2 Central quarterfinals while the boys team fell in the Div. 3 sectional finals.

Despite the playoff losses, the turnaround for both programs has been remarkable.

“To top it off (with a 19-2 record),” White said. “It just feels good.”

And the basketball programs weren’t the only ones feeling good this winter.

Hudson senior Michael Blake won the 55-meter dash at the Division 4 state indoor track meet, breaking his own school and the meet record, and then followed that up about an hour later by finishing first in the 300 – which also broke his own school record.

He just so happened to accomplish the feat as a junior as well.

“It felt awesome to repeat as double state champ,” he said.

Brogan sidelined for a bit

On Feb. 28, Tyler Brogan thought he had heartburn.

The Franklin High junior didn’t think much of it and proceeded to do what he does every day: run.

“When I was running I could barely breathe and had shortness of breath,” Brogan said.

He told Franklin boys indoor track distance coach Nick Bailey he needed to stop. Brogan went to the trainers and then to the "minute clinic" in Franklin.

An X-Ray was taken and it was determined he had a collapsed lung.

“I didn’t know what that was,” Brogan said. “At the time I was thinking we’ll get it checked quickly at the hospital and go to (the Franklin indoor track) banquet later. But that wasn’t the case.”

He was in the hospital for nearly four days.

Brogan didn’t need a full surgery, which only comes after collapsed lung No. 2.

“It was very minor, they just stuck this tube into the side of my chest, almost like an IV just a little bigger and it kind of drained out my lung and re-inflated it back to the normal size,” Brogan said. “My lung was 70 percent deflated.”

He was told he couldn’t run for six weeks. That meant he’d miss New England’s and Nationals.

“Missing that kind of hurt a little bit and knowing that I was missing the national championship the next weekend also hurt a little bit,” Brogan said. “It kind of sucked.”

Still, Brogan made the trip to The Armory in New York to watch his 4x800-relay teammates – and replacement – finish fourth with a time of 8:03.92 at the New Balance Nationals Indoor track and field event.

“Getting a medal at Nationals is a really big deal and they finished fourth and did that,” Brogan said. “It was kind of heartbreaking not to do it. But I am still so happy for them to see them do so well.”

Brogan’s initial orders of sitting out six weeks was shortened in half, and the Franklin junior won’t miss much time. He’ll miss the first week of the outdoor track season.

“I feel good. I feel great. Like perfectly normal,” he said. “Should be perfectly normal for spring and I asked many times. It shouldn’t hinder my running ability and I should be 100 percent normal when I start running again.”

Tommy Cassell is a senior multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at 508-626-4405 or tcassell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44.

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